FINCHforum

I saw a really beautiful finch at one of the local petshop, at first I didn't know what it was. Even the girl working there didn't know what it was?? The owner wasn't available; so I had to look it up online. Sure enough, it was a Melba Finch. Anyone has had luck keeping/breeding them?

Beautiful birds! I have never kept them myself, but have heard they can be difficult to breed. Do a search on Google for "Melba Finch" and you will get links to a number of sites with info on them.

Never had these birds, but I can tell you some more about the Pytilia species.
The aurora is the less aggressive from the Aurora, Melba and Wiener.
Wieners are almost impossible to breed (I don't know if they are available in the US), but Melba's are OK. But even hard to breed. Because of their aggressive nature you can't keep them with other birds.
Don't start with them if you aren't familiar with difficult African Waxbills.